EZ Power Steering kit

I allowed myself to remain distracted.....still needs a little more cutting and I'm pretty share I will need to relocate the controller


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How are you planning seal up the holes in the body around the unit, foam rubber of some sort? The hole in the body has been my objection to the EZ-steer but if I can get my head around hole-cutting (which I am almost there), then I have to ensure that is sealed as well as possible.

This video has me essentially convinced:

 

I'm thinking a sheetmetal or fiberglass pan that slip in from the bottom before the steering unit goes in and attaches with rivets and sealant, but I too would love to see the solutions other have come up with.

 

Bought this little guy to see what all goes on between the steering unit and the hack box. there are probably even cheaper options but this looked easy to use which makes it my speed I hope. The fiesta EPS is kind of chunky and annoyingly shaped but have myself convinced I'll get a better outcome than the much cleaner prius setup.....this should help me figure out if that is true.

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That's 1 side...hopefully the quickener shows up today so I can have a look at side 2

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Ordered it today! Thanks Aaron!!!

 

@ATSAaron @mike996 That description says "load sensitive" but it doesn't say "speed sensitive". From the earlier comments in this thread, it sounded like it was speed sensitive (i.e. the input from the speed sensor could be used to reduce boost as speed increased). Just looking for confirmation again....

 

The quickener arrived about 3:30 and has been kicking my butt since.....but I think I finally have something workable shaping up. The shafts are rock hard and the gear part needs to stay that way so I dropped the gear end in water and heated the rest

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Then the one housing got shortened 1/2" and the shaft about 1.25" and will be adapted to the OEM u-joint that locks on with a taper pin...they are 3" over-all and the shortest I found and I have it. The other housing piece will get shortened more and the seal and 1 of the 2 bearings removed as there is a bearing in the EPS unit then welded to the EPS housing cover. The shaft will get cut and bored to slip over the EPS shaft which also gets cut and I'll pin them together. Then the steering column gets shortened about 2" so the u joint sits up against the bearing retaining nut....and there should be just enough room for the steering wheel height adjustment to still work....at least in theory.



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The instructions Aaron posted a link to in the 1st page talk about connecting to the speedo wire for speed sensitivity so it should have that feature.

 

After a full day of making stuff shorter it all fits. Left to do:

1) The top u-joint uses a taper pin so I need to get a reamer for that

2) Connect the quickener housing to the EPS housing

3) Some kind of cover for the big hole I cut lest I be BLASTED with hot radiator air

4) Wire up and test the EPS

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Nice work !!
Good to see you've rotated the EPAS motor to the 1 O' clock position, as too many of these conversions have it between the 4 O' clock and 8 O' clock position where is looks like it could get in the way of your feet/toes on the pedals.

This must make for a pleasant distraction from honing 12 liners by hand ...

 

I prefer fab work to engine work so it is a nice break.

I've not really completely finalized the EPS position.....I'll probably drop the pedals back in and have a look at everything.

It should end up 1.6 turns but I'm not quite far enough along to be able to check it, this was just the first test fit where it at least fit into the space. Up at the column (yellow arrow) the u joint is still a slip fit and sitting about 1/8" higher than I'd like and down where the quickener shaft meets the EPS shaft (green arrow) its also still a slip fit and that is where I need to cut another 1/8 out before I weld it I guess. Then not clearly visible is the quickener is hitting the bulkhead on top and I really can't get to the EPS connectors....probably 2-3 more full days before it works.

Then another couple days on the how to close the big hole I cut problem.....I would love to see how others have handled that issue.

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Has the square section of quickener been machined down already ?

Does the panel to fill the hole you've cut out, need to be contoured, or can it just be flat ? If contoured, could you make a cheap mold and then make a fiberglass panel which you could either bond into place, or use rivnuts and some 3-4mm domed head bolts ?

 

Some. It had mounts that protruded and I don't need so I removed them. I don't have a good before pi but here is from the web. I removed the 2 bosses with the bolt holes. There is probably a little more metal that could come off....but best answer is probably to "reshape" the sheetmetal its hitting.

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Also worth noting is the output is basically centered (the unit isn't square) but the input is offset and I'm still kind of playing with what orientation fits best

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There is a lot of EPS sticking through the hole so it will definitely be contoured. Right now its also hanging over the side of the hole and bends are structural so I really don't want to cut any more lest it lead to a pedal box that isn't firm. So yeah, sheet metal (but I don't have Vonbarron's skill) or fiberglass then pop rivets or maybe rivnuts as you suggest.
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Its so close to steering again. I shortened the quickener another 3/8", machined the housing to accept a clamp to secure it to the EPS (but still need to make said clamp), welded the shafts together, drilled a hole for the pin at the steering column, cut a notch to clearance the quickener, cut away a chuck of the EPS housing to expose the wires which should let me mount the controller in the cabin with no additional work.

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I would definitely lay thin blue foam over unit then layup 3 layers fiberglass over whole thing, trim and rivet, leave it natural yellowed glass color, then puff a tiny bit of black on a couple spots, maybe some undercoat on less than half for a perfect factory look

 

Don't forget the normal factory sealing gloup as well

 

Are you thinking rigid foam insulation and shape it or something flexible and just kind of stretch it over and tape in place? I was 3/4 thinking about spray foam too?

 

I'll be interested in how it is sealed - my EZ steer is on the way - and I definitely want to ensure it's sealed as well as possible. Interesting project you have embarked upon. I have neither the equipment or the skill to do what you are doing so buying the (more or less) bolt-on EZ-Steer is the solution for me.

 

I would say it's virtually impossible to seal. But I would try some medium density foam and pack it in from above behind the pedal box.

Aaron

 

Flexible foam, like chair pad. Spray foam would work too, but I doubt you would ever get it back out.

https://www.amazon.com/FoamTouch-Upholstery-Foam-Density-Cushion/dp/B00TSVSA7C

 

Thin blue foam used in shipping and packing, sometimes wrapped around pipe before concreting, It’s just giving you a tiny bit of room around the steering unit, and easy to pull out when it’s all over

 

Yep, but most just drive the cars to and fro. I always read a daytona only came alive at 80, not many places you can just get in and run over 80. Sadly most deal with traffic and cities, is the real reason why modern ferraris are paddles, to make it easy.

The rack on 308s and BBIs is a compromise, enough leveredge/turns to allow it to work at slow and parking speeds means its a bit slow at higher speeds. Now a slow rack at really high speeds like 150mph+ is not a bad thing as the car wont be twitchy, but on tighter slower roads not ideal.

Im all in the manual steering camp(2 lotuses), but if its possible to fit a system to an 80s ferrari that woks only say only below 10 mph and has zero assist above(also without causing drag or inertia) then you could fit a faster rack, not have the compromises inherant in that then you'd get the best of everything. Not sure the system described in this thread meets those criteria, it still seems to provide assist at all speeds albeit declining therfore its filtering hence the need for coding etc.

in My experience even the best hydraulic systems rob feel, they just have subtly more than eps. The eps system basicaly have no feel, thats lost, they also suffer from what feels like stiction when intiating turn, and can fee inconsistent depeding on what the sensors and computer thinks should be coming next, same with brake by wire. Thats Oem systems I'm talking about which always offer some degree of assistance, unlike our theoretical one which does nothing above 10mph..However what eps in most modern sportscars does do is offer super sharp ratios and they gain a lot on acuracy, the abiity to place the car with incredible precision. EPS and a reall tight ratio makes for a front end tht feels super reactive. A maclaren 570Gt4 I drove on track was revelatory, and easy but it relied on computers to handle the limits because the human computer got no feedback sensor(the wheel).

Thats the rub, the tactile joy of an older car, where eevry parts speaks to you, whgere youre the computer using sersory feedback from the wheel, pedals your ears etc is the joy. how fast that car can go round a corner how much of the cars ability can be exploited is purely up to you and your skill. Remove sensory feedback with a system and you remove part of the joy. Wheh does 308 stop being a 308, what can you add to that enhances the experince.

If there is a system that allows a fast rack to be manageable below 10 mph and has zero inteferance above, thats an enhancer. Id call it park asist syem, its got switch to turn it off completly or computer knocks it out at 10 mph. Then all we need is ac that works.

 

It steers again. A few little mechanical things left and then on to getting the EPS powered up....and the hole sealed up